 William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Female Eastern Towhee songbird bathing in bird bath. Athens, Georgia, USA. Pipilo erythrophthalmus Sunday, 7:11 AM – we are finally seeing a sunrise rather than the totally overcast and rainy skies of the last few days. There is so much bird activity in the backyard. The “usuals” are all there: Chickaees, Titmice, Cardinals, House Sparrows… But I keep hearing a different, higher pitched chirping of several birds in the Black Cherry tree. It is hard to get a good look with such quick flurrying in the leaves, but I see some black and white. Is it the Chickadees? But they’ve never sounded like that before. Finally, and just for a quick moment, one lands on the swingset. Obviously some sort of warbler that I haven’t seen before. Getting my Birds of Georgia book, the first little bird in the black and white section is, aptly named, the Black and White Warbler (Mniotilta varia). Cornell’s website says: the Black-and-white Warbler’s thin, squeaky song is one of the first signs that spring birding has sprung. This crisply striped bundle of black and white feathers creeps along tree trunks and branches like a nimble nuthatch, probing the bark for insects with its slightly downcurved bill. Though you typically see these birds only in trees, they build their little cup-shaped nests in the leaf litter of forests across central and eastern North America. To confirm my identification, I emailed Katy with Oconee Rivers Audubon Society. She replied: "Yep, the one and only! One of my favorite birds. They migrate here in spring and stick around until late summer, then they're gone. We do have occasional over-wintering birds, but I'd say seeing one on your feeder is a nice treat! Their song is like a squeaky wheel, unlike anything I've ever heard from a bird!" A new one for my photo lifelist! I’ll have to sit and try for a better shot soon. A bit later I was privileged to spy in on a female Eastern Towhee taking a bath in our birdbath. Athens, Georgia
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 William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Red-bellied Woodpecker Saturday, 10:50 AM – a young doe has been boldly entering my backyard quite regularly lately. She is less and less spooked by our presence and movements. This morning, she remained unalarmedly grazing as my wife and I sat and talked over a cup of coffee on the back patio. She appears to be eating the grasses that grow from the spilled bird seed. She has also at times boldly wandered over to eat spilled seed underneath the feeders even when the dogs next door begin to bark. As she grazed, another critter, never lacking in boldness, visited the feeder. A boldly colored black, white and red Red-bellied Woodpecker hangs from the feeder. His bold calls always echo throughout my backyard and surrounding woods. Athens, Georgia
 William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  American Green Tree Frog, Hyla cinerea, a common tree frog of the Southeast United States. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA Wednesday, 4:04 PM – I probably pass through the kennels nearly 100 times per day. On a couple of occasions, I spotted a cute little American Green Tree Frog hanging around near the drain of one of the old, unoccupied dog runs. I’m not sure how he got in the building, but couldn’t quite catch him to put him back outside. After a couple of weeks, the little guy got so famished and thin that he was slow enough to catch. Before releasing him, I had to do what I love: get a glamour shot! American Green Tree Frogs (Hyla cinerea) are very common here in the southeastern United States. They provide a wonderful background chorus to humid, back patio summer nights in Georgia. In fact, they are the “state amphibian” here in Georgia! Walton County, Georgia  American Green Tree Frog, Hyla cinerea, a common tree frog of the Southeast United States. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA  American Green Tree Frog, Hyla cinerea, a common tree frog of the Southeast United States. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA  American Green Tree Frog, Hyla cinerea, a common tree frog of the Southeast United States. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA  American Green Tree Frog, Hyla cinerea, a common tree frog of the Southeast United States. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA  American Green Tree Frog, Hyla cinerea, a common tree frog of the Southeast United States. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA 
Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions.   Statue of Liberty at night. Libertas, the Roman goddess. Torch. Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. Thursday,9:26 PM - My nephew graduated from Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday, June 17, and we made the trip to celebrate. My family and I left Georgia on Wednesday, and after two days of driving, which included an additional three hours of delay slowly trudging through backed up traffic around D.C. and the Bronx, we finally arrived at our hotel, quickly changed clothes and ran to train station. Our destination was Pier 81 in Manhattan for an evening cruise on the Hudson and East Rivers. After a wide-eyed walk through Penn Station and a nerve wracking Uber ride, we finally got to the pier and boarded a small dinner cruise ship. The boat made several passes by the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and afforded great views of the New York City skyline, which became especially brilliant and colorful the sun set and the city became aglow. New York wasn’t my speed (it was about 100 mph too fast for me!) and I was happy to head back home to Georgia. But the city was wonderful to see. And my nephew’s military school graduation was quite inspiring. He is now off to the Navy for several years!  Statue of Liberty at night. Libertas, the Roman goddess. Torch. Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States   
 William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Tuesday, 2:57 PM - Spring and summer months bring frequent, urgent calls across the 911 radio system for snakes inside people’s homes. One particular snake was quite large and worth some photography.  Animal Control Officer Nancy Hall was called out to a Church Street home in Monroe, Georgia by a frantic woman that had a snake in her kitchen. When she arrived, ACO Hall found this long, thick Black Rat Snake (Pantherophis) stretched all the way across the kitchen table! They are typically about 3 to 4 feet long, but this one was every bit of six feet, if not a foot longer. The two bulbous lumps in his belly showed he had just enjoyed a meal of some sort.  Black Rat Snakes make up about 90% of the snake calls we receive at Walton County Animal Control. Except for giving you a heart attack, they are completely harmless to people. They love to eat birds and birds eggs straight out of the nests. Therefore, they are agile climbers and can scale the side of a sheer brick home or straight up a tree’s bark. The babies and juveniles have a beautiful, distinct black and gray pattern that fades to black as the snake ages. The pattern can sometimes be faintly seen on the adults as well.  This big boy must have had a long life and story to tell. There were several scars along his girth. He was also quite the feisty fellow… perhaps that is how he survived a long life. At one point during the photoshoot, as he tried to slither off the stump into the leaf litter, I gained a stinging strike to my hand as he sunk his teeth into my fingers as I grabbed him mid-body. I released him in the woods behind the shelter after his photo session to continue his happy, rat-eating life. Walton County, Georgia  
 William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Eastern Box Turtle, Terrapene carolina. Tortoise with hinged shell. The plastron bottom of the shell is hinged, allowing the box turtle to completely close it shell. Walton County, Georgia, USA. Thursday, 8:16 AM - One of my co-workers brought in an Eastern Box Turtle that his German Shepherd had found and threw around like a chew toy. A few marginal scutes were broken off the front of his carapace, but it otherwise seemed okay. A few characteristics identified this nice specimen as a male. Male box turtles have more of a concave plastron then females. Their eyes also tend to be more red than the females. This particular guy had some strikingly red eyes… no Photoshop enhancements here! I took advantage of some time and took him out for a photoshoot. I couldn’t resist placing him on some upright posts nearby for that “Turtle on the Fencepost” shot.
 Tortoise with hinged shell. The plastron bottom of the shell is hinged, allowing the box turtle to completely close it shell. Walton County, Georgia, USA.  Tortoise with hinged shell. The plastron bottom of the shell is hinged, allowing the box turtle to completely close it shell. Walton County, Georgia, USA.  Tortoise with hinged shell. The plastron bottom of the shell is hinged, allowing the box turtle to completely close it shell. Walton County, Georgia, USA.  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica, perched on telephone wire with mud in beak to build a nest. North American Swallow. Their nests are often easy to spot under the eaves or inside of sheds, barns, bridges and other structures. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA. Thursday, 2:04 PM - The Barn Swallows are frequently skimming just above the smooth pond water behind the shelter. Their constant perching on the eves of the fleet maintenance building next door means their tell-tale mud nests must be located in the vicinity. On this particular day, I noticed that each time I went out the back door of my office, a pair of swallows was on a bundle of wires going from our admin building to the shop next door. Taking the time to watch, I noticed they would leave and return with beaks-full of mud. They quickly began slapping that mud on top of the wire just under the gutter. In just a matter of hours a nest was well under way. It was totally completed by the end of the following day. “During the breeding season keep an eye on mud puddles, as Barn Swallows come to the ground to pick up mud and grass for nesting materials. Their mud nests are often tucked under the eaves of barns and stables, on structures near playing fields, or under bridges.” source  Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica, perched on telephone wire with mud in beak to build a nest. North American Swallow. Their nests are often easy to spot under the eaves or inside of sheds, barns, bridges and other structures. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA.  Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica, perched on telephone wire with mud in beak to build a nest. North American Swallow. Their nests are often easy to spot under the eaves or inside of sheds, barns, bridges and other structures. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA.  Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica, perched on telephone wire. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA.  Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica, perched on telephone wire. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA.  Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica, perched on telephone wire. Monroe, Walton County, Georgia, USA.  William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message  Green Heron; Walton County, Georgia Thursday, 9:08 AM - On my trip to Illinois in the last week of May, between graduations and family get-togethers, I just barely had time to go on a few long runs. Two runs took me by Peter Exner Marsh in Huntley. The trails were flooded, but on the front edge of the preserve I spotted two large, gray Sandhill Cranes and two rusty-colored, gangly babies walking under their mothers’ long legs. But no camera on my runs. Back home in Georgia we have one of those rare, gorgeous days that almost simulated the wonderful weather in Illinois. A strong cool breeze uncharacteristically lacking humidity is blowing across the shelter pond. Large, billowing white clouds provide patches of shade as they roll across the bright blue sky. The morning temperature is in the cooler, upper sixties.  Green Heron; Walton County, Georgia While out near the Sheriff’s firing range taking photos of a Box Turtle, two Green Herons flush out of the duckweed bog to my left. Armed only with my 200 mm lens, I can’t get too close a shot. I’ve seen a Green Heron back here before, but never a pair sitting in the same tree. I head back to the office for a longer lens. Coming back ten minutes later after retrieving my 600mm lens from my office, one heron is gone and the other atop a tall Sweetgum Tree. He belts out a few harsh croaks while swaying back in forth in the strong breeze before flying off. Walton County, Georgia 
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In December 1993 I came to know the Designer and Creator of this wonderful planet and its creatures: Jesus Christ.
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